Director Will Leave Position In April
TheOmahaChannel.com
Wed., Feb. 4, 2009
OMAHA, Neb. - The man often in the spotlight during the Safe Haven crisis is leaving the Division of Children and Family Services.
Todd Landry will leave his position as director in April. He’s held the division’s top spot since 2007.
Before being appointed to the job, Landry was the head of the Child Saving Institute in Omaha.
He said he took the job as director because there had been a reorganization in the department and he felt that he could focus on getting programs off the ground.
Landry soon became a focal point in the crisis over the state’s Safe Haven law.
“I am very concerned that people are no longer deciding that they want to be a parent,” Landry said. “We need to get back to the intent of the law. Families who utilize safe haven and leave their children at a hospital are still obligated to be in their kids lives. The time period when we were going through the safe haven issues was a challenging one for me.”
Family advocates criticized Landry for the way he handled the safe haven crisis. Thirty-six children were left at hospitals in Nebraska under the law.
“There are things I would do differently, things I would have said slightly differently,” Landry said.
He said he and his staff made a big difference in the life of children in the state.
“[There were] more adoptions last year than ever before in the history of the state. Kids are coming into the system at a lower rate because we are helping those families at an earlier point,” Landry said.
He also said the total number of state wards is at the lowest number in five years.
Landry worked with senators to pass a new law recently.
“To help us be much more transparent in the dealing and workings of what happens in this department,” Landry said. “I think the ship is moving in the right direction.”
The director is staying until April to help with the transition and get through the legislative hearings.
He’ll then leave to go back to Texas and help children there.
“It’s the right thing to do for me and my family,” Landry said.
He is from Texas originally and still has family there. His new job will be in Fort Worth, Texas.
He’ll head the Lena Pope Home. It’s similar to the Child Saving Institute in Omaha.
